Arrival to Roma for CIL

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Ciao, All

I arrived into Rome early on Saturday morning following a very pleasant flight from the States. I actually “ran into” Richard Gray in Washington DC on my connecting flight and not only were we on the same flight to Rome, but he was actually just one row behind me! When we arrived into Rome the car scheduled to pick us up wasn’t there and after a few unsuccessful calls to the Motherhouse (it was early in the morning) we thought it would be best to take a taxi instead of waiting any longer at the airport. (I wasn’t worried about this —it's difficult to organize the logistics for that many folks and I had taken a taxi to the Motherhouse on more than one occasion). Given what the taxi situation is like in Rome, with the MANY “unlicensed” taxi drivers trying to elicit business from “foreign travelers,” I think Richard was MORE than happy that he had ran into me at that point, since I knew how to navigate the system a bit. (We later came to find out that there was a mistake in the reading of our flight itineraries- and a driver was waiting for us at the airport on Friday!!—it wasn’t a problem for us, but I felt really bad for the brother that was waiting for over 2 hours for us the day before.)

When we arrived at the Motherhouse, and as has always been my experience, we had a MOST warm welcome by all the brothers who are here!!—the MOST amazing thing about being at the Motherhouse is the fact that you are truly a part of an International Lasallian Family. . . and as you walk down the hallways, everyone greets you—and in the span of just a few steps you are being greeted in Italian, Spanish, French and English. . . and even other languages such as German or Swahili! The participants in the program come from all over the globe and represent all areas of our Lasallian Family—participants’ homes include Costa Rica, Spain, Malaysia, Japan, Palestine, France, Italy, Greece, Congo, Mozambique, Cameroon, Kenya, Colombia, Bolivia, Lebanon, Ecuador, Canada, Australia, and Vietnam!! (I’m sure I’ve forgotten some places). So often we speak about our worldwide Lasallian Family. .. but to be here and experience it first hand for such a length of time is truly a gift.

After we got a little settled in our rooms, I offered to give the other American lay partners (there are 4 in addition to myself) a little “tour” of the house and the neighborhood—since none of them have been here before and I have had the blessing of being invited to the Motherhouse prior to this trip for various meetings. It was great fun to walk around, chat and “take in” the sites of the local neighborhood . . .and we ended our evening with a fun dinner out.

Today was a fairly quiet day—and it was lovely to be able to walk around Rome, connect with and spend some time with a few of the brothers who live here and are always very kind to me when I am in town. . . and then end the evening with a walk to the local gelato store with Bro. Bob Smith and the American CIL lay partners. :)

The official CIL session starts tomorrow and there will be about 30 lay partners joining the 34 brothers already present for the program. (The brothers are a part of a 6 month CIL session—if you are interested, the website for the program is www.lasalle.org/cil/). I’m not really sure what to expect, as we have yet to be given an “official schedule”—we have been told that breakfast is from 7:30-8:30am and that the first session is at 9:00am. (no one besides the Americans seem to be "uptight" with this fact. . . but I keep reminding them, and myself, that we are in Rome :). I can’t imagine that the experience will be anything short of wonderful!!_- how couldn’t it be, given all the talented and dedicated folks from around the world who have been gathered!—in addition to the kindness shown to us from the CIL staff and the brothers in the program.

One other fun fact I found out today was that each of the brothers who are in the CIL program was assigned a lay partner participant to be “pen pals” with. I didn't know this until I got here, because my “pen pal” is a WONDERFUL and energetic 67 year old brother named Gaetano who is from Sicily. I guess his first experiences with e-mail is during this program—so none of his messages successfully made it to me. He chose me because of my southern Italian last name. and he only speaks Italian . . but little did he know I have very little Italian-- actually my comprehension isn't so bad, but my speaking ability is TERRIBLE! He was VERY cute and kind and spent most of the day asking me about where my family was from and about the work that I do. . .and after every sentence or so would stop and say “capite”?.—and whether I understood him or not. . . he kept talking. . . and trying to communicate with me. . . so hopefully my Italian will be better when I return. It is amazing, though, how much we were able to communicate!

It is almost 2:00am here in Italy-- so I need to head to bed. . . looking forward to a wonderful “official” start to the program and MOST thankful to be able to have this experience.

I’ll write again soon.

Enjoy the pictures below. . . just to give you a little idea about where I am.

Buona Notte,

Tina